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If you stand pat in draw poker you're betting on the cards in your hand being better than any you're likely to draw. It didn't take long for stand pat to move from the poker table, where it first appeared in the late 1800s, to the realm of politics; by the early 20th century, to stand pat was to oppose any change in U.S. tariff policy. The term continues to be used mainly in U.S. English, where it's applied to everything from a coach's decision not to change out players during a game to a homeowner's decision not to refinance. The nouns standpatter ("one who resists or opposes change") and standpattism ("resistance to change" or "reluctance to take positive action") are also used, although generally only in political contexts.

Examples of standpat in a Sentence

Adjective

the standpat chefs were having none of this low-calorie stuff that the food police were pushing

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'standpat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.